Avoid Getting Catfished With Zoosk Photo Verification

There's nothing worse than finding out your latest online flame looks nothing like their profile photo in real life. Such a letdown, amirite? But luckily, Zoosk has devised a solution to this all-too-common problem.

The dating site on Thursday debuted a new feature, dubbed Photo Verification, that's intended to confirm the authenticity of members' profile photos.

With Photo Verification, which is currently only available on iOS, you open the Zoosk app on your iPhone, and select a profile photo that you want verified. The app will prompt you to record and submit a video "selfie" that will capture your face from a variety of angles. Zoosk then compares that video selfie to your profile photo to check that your profile photos are accurate representations of your real life appearance.

If the moderators approve your photo, you'll be notified and a badge - like a verified checkmark on Twitter - will be added to your page. The video "selfie" will remain private.

"One of the most important concerns of online daters is going out with someone who doesn't really resemble their profile picture," Shayan Zadeh, co-founder and CEO of Zoosk, said in a statement. "By innovating a system for our members to validate the accuracy of existing profile photos, we believe we can create better first-date experiences that will lead to lasting relationships."

The feature is available through the Zoosk iOS app beginning today, and it's expected to arrive on Android in the coming months.

According to a 2013 Pew Research study, more than half of online daters have been blindsided by an inaccurate profile photo. In fact, some 54 percent felt that a fellow dater "seriously misrepresented themselves" in their profile, the study found.

"Zoosk developed this feature in order to address its members' interest in having more transparency and trust in their potential dates," the company said in a statement. "By creating a Photo Verification process, Zoosk has become the first company in the online dating industry to directly address this concern."'